Dynamic Channel and Transmission Rate Selection

ABSTRACT

Dynamic channel and transmission rate selection is described. In an example, a communication resource for transmitting data to a receiver is selected from several channels, each having several associated rates. The selection comprises storing a weighting factor for each channel/rate combination, monitoring transmission performance on a selected channel and rate, and inferring performance for other rates on the selected channel from the monitored performance. Each weighting factor is then updated using the monitored and inferred performances, and used to select a channel/rate combination for subsequent transmission. In another example, a communication device comprises a transmitter, a processor, and a memory arranged to store a weighting factor associated with each receiver, channel and rate combination. The transmitter sends data to a receiver using one channel and rate, and the processor monitors the performance, updates the weighting factors accordingly, and selects a receiver, channel and rate combination for subsequent transmission.

BACKGROUND

Communication networks enable data to be transmitted between atransmitter and a receiver by utilizing a communication resource. In thecase of a wireless communication network, the communication resource isa radio frequency that is manipulated using certain modulation andcoding schemes to convey the data. As the utilization of the radiospectrum increases, such communication resources become increasinglycongested and scarce.

A “white space” spectrum environment enables wireless communication tobe performed using unused parts of the radio spectrum. For example, aprimary user can have licensed access to a portion of the radiospectrum, but secondary, unlicensed, users may be able toopportunistically use this portion of spectrum at times when the primaryuser is not utilizing it. Therefore, a white space environment can easecommunication resource scarcity. For example, the FCC has allowed partsof the UHF spectrum below 700 MHz to be used for this purpose.

However, the use of white space environments bring their own challenges.Firstly, it can be difficult to detect and avoid channels occupied byprimary users, with whom interference is to be avoided. Secondly, whitespaces provide a potentially large pool of available frequency channels(including frequency fragments available between primary users). Due tothe wide frequency range (for example up to 200 MHz), the qualities ofthe available channels can vary substantially.

As a result, choosing a communication resource from the white space (interms of a frequency channel and transmission rate) is difficult.Neither the received signal strength indicator (RSSI) nor signal tonoise ratio (SNR) is a good predictor of channel quality. As a result,probing is used to learn the quality of each channel available at eachtransmission rate. In other words, several packets are transmitted ateach channel and at each rate, to construct a reliable estimate of thechannel quality.

However, because of the large pool of available frequency channels (thestate space) there are a very large number of channel and ratecombinations available for use. Therefore, probing each of thesecombinations is inefficient. For example, if an optimum channel and rateis to be selected by probing all combinations, then by the time they areall probed and the optimum selected, the conditions may have changed andthe selected combination may no longer be optimum. A similar situationcan occur in the case of a smaller number of combinations, but morerapidly changing channel conditions. This is an exploration (probing)versus exploitation (utilization) trade-off as a result of the largestate space. The transmitter aims to exploit the optimum channel andrate to send data, whilst constantly exploring whether the optimumchannel and rate has changed. Exploration involves a cost in that bad orsuboptimal channels and rates may be explored which wastes time andcommunication resources.

The embodiments described below are not limited to implementations whichsolve any or all of the disadvantages of known channel and rateselection techniques.

SUMMARY

The following presents a simplified summary of the disclosure in orderto provide a basic understanding to the reader. This summary is not anextensive overview of the disclosure and it does not identifykey/critical elements of the invention or delineate the scope of theinvention. Its sole purpose is to present some concepts disclosed hereinin a simplified form as a prelude to the more detailed description thatis presented later.

Dynamic channel and transmission rate selection is described. In anexample, a communication resource for transmitting data to a receiver isselected from several channels, each having several associated rates.The selection comprises storing a weighting factor for each channel/ratecombination, monitoring transmission performance on a selected channeland rate, and inferring performance for other rates on the selectedchannel from the monitored performance. Each weighting factor is thenupdated using the monitored and inferred performances, and used toselect a channel/rate combination for subsequent transmission. Inanother example, a communication device comprises a transmitter, aprocessor, and a memory arranged to store a weighting factor associatedwith each receiver, channel and rate combination. The transmitter sendsdata to a receiver using one channel and rate, and the processormonitors the performance, updates the weighting factors accordingly, andselects a receiver, channel and rate combination for subsequenttransmission.

Many of the attendant features will be more readily appreciated as thesame becomes better understood by reference to the following detaileddescription considered in connection with the accompanying drawings.

DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The present description will be better understood from the followingdetailed description read in light of the accompanying drawings,wherein:

FIG. 1 illustrates a communication system;

FIG. 2 illustrates a set of communication resources for use in thecommunication system;

FIG. 3 illustrates a flowchart of a process for dynamically selecting areceiver, channel and transmission rate in the communication system;

FIG. 4 illustrates a synchronization epoch; and

FIG. 5 illustrates an exemplary computing-based device in whichembodiments of the dynamic channel and rate selection may beimplemented.

Like reference numerals are used to designate like parts in theaccompanying drawings.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

The detailed description provided below in connection with the appendeddrawings is intended as a description of the present examples and is notintended to represent the only forms in which the present example may beconstructed or utilized. The description sets forth the functions of theexample and the sequence of steps for constructing and operating theexample. However, the same or equivalent functions and sequences may beaccomplished by different examples.

Although the present examples are described and illustrated herein asbeing implemented in a wireless “white space” system, the systemdescribed is provided as an example and not a limitation. As thoseskilled in the art will appreciate, the present examples are suitablefor application in a variety of different types of communicationsystems, which may or may not be wireless. For example, the presentexamples are suitable for application in any communication system usinga number of channels, such as digital subscriber line (DSL).

FIG. 1 illustrates a communication system 100 in which a dynamic channeland transmission rate selection technique can be utilized. Thecommunication system 100 comprises a communication device 102 such as anaccess point (AP) which is arranged to transmit data to, and receivedata from, one or more nodes.

In the following, the selection of channel and transmission rate for thedownlink from the access point to the nodes is considered. Therefore, insuch a scenario, the access point is referred to as the transmitter, andthe nodes are referred to as receivers. However, it will be understoodthat the same techniques can also be applied in the uplink direction.

In this example, three receivers are shown receiving data from theaccess point. A first receiver 104 is operated by a first user 106, asecond receiver 108 is operated by a second user 110, and a thirdreceiver 112 is operated by a third user 114. In this example, each ofthe plurality of receivers are awaiting data from the access point. Theaccess point therefore decides which of the plurality of receivers tosend data to, and which available communication resource to use to sendthe data.

Reference is now made to FIG. 2, which illustrates a schematic diagramof a set of communication resources 200 available for utilization in thecommunication system 100 of FIG. 1. FIG. 2 shows a plurality of channels202, which can be frequency channels in the case of a wireless network.In this example, six contiguous frequency channels are illustrated, butin other examples a larger or smaller number of channels may be present,and these do not need to be adjacent to each other in frequency.

Each of the channels 202 can be used to send data at one of a pluralityof transmission rates 204. For example, in FIG. 2, a selected channel206 is illustrated supporting three possible transmission rates r₁, r₂,and r₃. Each of the other channels can also provide data at thesetransmission rates. The transmission rates can correspond to theselection of certain modulation and coding schemes.

When transmitting data to one of the receivers of FIG. 1, the accesspoint selects a channel and transmission rate combination to use totransmit the data. For example, the access point may select channel 206and a first transmission rate 208 (r₂) to send data to receiver 104 inone example (although this is purely illustrative). Following thistransmission of data, if the access point switches to use a differentchannel (i.e. other than channel 206) then a switching cost is incurred.The switching cost is a temporal cost associated with moving thetransmitter frequency and re-synchronizing transmitter and receiver tothe new channel. For example, the time taken to move to a new frequencychannel can be in the order of 3 ms (although this is implementationdependent). Conversely, switching between transmission rates within agiven channel is instantaneous.

Presented herein is a selection technique for enabling the access pointto select the receiver, channel and transmission rate to use for a givendata transmission. The selection technique considers a number offactors, and selects the optimum receiver, channel, rate combinationefficiently and without excessive probing.

The selection technique is adapted to non-stationary environments, whichmeans that it can adapt to time-varying channel quality conditions. Theselection technique also explicitly accounts for channel switching andsynchronization costs outlined above. Additionally, the selectiontechnique comprises a scheduler function that accounts for fairnessissues in network scenarios where several receivers are served by theaccess point. The selection technique can be implemented efficientlywith no signalling packets and minimal MAC overhead, and considerssynchronization.

Furthermore, the selection technique utilizes knowledge of correlationsthat exist between throughputs obtained on the same channel at differentrates to reduce the number of channel, transmission rate combinations,and hence reduce the state space that is explored. This enables moreeffective selections to be made, without requiring increased probing.

The correlations that exist between throughputs obtained on the samechannel at different rates are utilized as follows. For a givenfrequency, the success of a channel transmission depends on two factors:the radio environment and the coding rate. For a given radioenvironment, the performance at different rates are correlated, and thiscorrelation is exploited by inferring information about the success of apacket transmission at one rate given that the actual transmission wasat a different rate (for the same frequency channel).

In general, there is a clear ordering between rates, in that lower rateshave higher success probability. This can be combined with thecorrelation knowledge to give the following properties: (i) if a datapacket is received successfully at a given rate on a given channel, theit would have been successful had it been transmitted at a lower rate onthe given channel; (ii) if a packet transmission fails at a given rate,then it would have failed had it been transmitted at a higher rate onthe given channel. These properties are used to reduce the state space,and hence reduce the amount of probing, as described in more detailhereinafter.

Before describing the selection technique in more detail with referenceto FIG. 3, some terminology is established for formalizing the system.Firstly, a single transmitter-receiver pair is considered. Transmissionscan be carried on C different channels at L different rates r₁< . . .<r_(L) depending on the chosen modulation and coding rate. Channel andrate selection is made periodically, at the beginning of every frame. Inthis illustrative example, frames have unit duration. The way that thisduration is set not important provided it remains small compared to thechannel coherence time. If the transmitter decides to switch from onechannel to another, it has to wait for a constant switching time s(expressed in frames) before sending any data. This is the switchingcost described above. Then data packets are sent at the selected ratefor the entire duration of the frame.

A channel and rate selection policy r is defined as a sequence ofdecisions π=(π_(t)ε{1, . . . , C}×{1, . . . , L}, tε

), where π_(t)=(i,l) if for the t-th frame, channel i and rate r_(l) areselected. The decisions are based on past observations. Under π, thechannel selected for the t-th frame is denoted by i_(t) ^(π) and therate selected for the t-th frame is denoted by l_(t) ^(π) (or moreprecisely r_(l) _(t) _(π) ). The “reward” x^(π)(t) received in frame tunder policy π is defined as the number of bits successfully transmittedduring the frame. Rewards are random variables that depend on the packettransmission successes or failures (and in this context represent theamount of data transmitted per channel use, as discussed later).

If at time t, π selects channel i and rate l, then the reward at time tis denoted x_(i,l)(t)=x^(π)(t). The average reward under policy π up toframe T is given by:

${R^{\pi}(T)} = {\frac{1}{T}{\sum\limits_{t = 0}^{T - 1}{x^{\pi}(t)}}}$

The success rate of a transmission on a given channel and at a givenrate can evolve quite arbitrarily in time, and it can be difficult inpractice to develop a statistical model for this evolution. Instead thefollowing model for the non-stationary evolution of success rates isused. The success rate of a packet transmission in frame t on channel iand at rate r_(l) is denoted μ_(i,l)(t). The success rate process isdenoted by μ(·)=(μ_(i,l)(·), i, l). If policy π selects channel i andrate l in frame t>0, the expected reward achieved during this framedepends on whether or not channels are switched, as given by:

E _(μ) [x ^(π)(t)]=(1−s1_(i) _(t−1) _(≠i) _(t) )x _(i,l)(t)

Where

_(μ)[·] denotes the expectation under success rate process μ, and wherethe reward x_(i,l)(t) is equal to r_(l)·μ_(i,l)(t). In other words, theexpectation is x_(i,l)(t) if there is no switching (i.e. the channelstays the same between frames such that i_(t−1)=i_(t)). If there ischannel switching (such that i_(t−1)≠i_(t)) then the switching time sreduces frame duration during which bits can be successfully sent. Notethat E_(μ)[x^(π)(0)]=r_(l)·μ_(i,l)(0) as there is no initial switchingcost.

The above gives rise to the following property: the reward during aframe of any policy selecting rate l is upper bounded by r_(l). Thisproperty is used in the design of the efficient rate selection schemedescribed below. The channel and rate selection policy aims to track theoptimum channel and rate in terms of expected reward. If the evolutionsof success rates μ_(i,l)(t) were completely arbitrary, this task wouldbe difficult. However, in real-life systems, the optimum channel andrate choice do not change very often. The channel and rate selectionschemes described below offer good performance guarantees when theoptimum channel and rate change at a relatively low rate, defines asless than a per frame.

More precisely, if (i_(t)*,l_(t)*) is the decision of channel and rateoffering maximum expected reward in frame t without accounting forpossible switching cost, then:

$\left( {i_{t}^{*},l_{t}^{*}} \right) = {\arg \; {\max\limits_{({j,k})}{r_{k}{\mu_{j,k}(t)}}}}$

In other words, the decision offering maximum expected reward is thecombination of channel and rate maximising the product of the rate andthe success rate. The optimum channel and rate change at a rate lessthan α, if, for any time horizon T,

${\sum\limits_{t = 1}^{T}1_{{({i_{t}^{*},l_{t}^{*}})} \neq {({i_{t - 1}^{*},l_{t}^{*}})}}} \leq {\alpha \; T}$

The set of success rate processes μ(·) satisfying this equation isdenoted M_(α). As stated, the aim of the policy is to track the optimumchannel and rate for transmission. A practical policy can be compared toan “ideal” policy that tracks the optimum channel and rate withoutaccounting for the switching cost. Such an ideal policy yields anexpected average reward R*(T, μ) up to time T equal to:

${R^{*}\left( {T,\mu} \right)} = {\frac{1}{T}{\sum\limits_{t = 0}^{T - 1}\; {r_{l_{t}^{*}}{\mu_{i_{t}^{*},l_{t}^{*}}(t)}}}}$

The notion of “regret” (as known in the art) can be used to evaluate theperformance of a policy π:

${{regret}^{\pi}(t)} = {\max\limits_{\mu \in M_{\alpha}}\left\{ {{R^{*}\left( {T,\mu} \right)} - {E_{\mu}\left\lbrack {R^{\pi}(T)} \right\rbrack}} \right\}}$

Note that the regret is an abstract notion defined with respect to theworse success rate process μεM_(α) among all possible success rateprocesses (channel descriptions) for which the optimum channel and ratechange at a rate at most α. In the following, policies π are derivedwhose regret is bounded by some function g(α), where g(α) tends to 0 asα→0. Such algorithms achieve a long-term expected throughput liminf_(T→∞)E_(μ)[R^(π)(T)] at least equal to lim_(T→∞)R*[T]−g(α), andhence a throughput very close to that of the ideal policy continuouslytracking the optimum channel and rate.

The design of channel and rate selection schemes can be viewed as anextension of multi-arm bandit (MAB) problems. Each (channel, rate) tupleis interpreted as an “arm”, with rewards having distributions withtime-varying means. In a MAB problem a gambler pulls at each time tε

an arm among K arms. Each arm i generates independent and identicallydistributed rewards with distribution of mean β_(i), independent of therewards generated by pulling other arms. The reward distributions arenot known initially by the gambler, and have to be learnt. The goal isto design an algorithm minimizing the learning cost often expressed asthe expected regret over T rounds, defined as the difference between thetotal expected average reward obtained by always choosing the optimumarm and the total average reward obtained by using the algorithm.

However, in the MAB problem above, the distributions of rewards do notevolve in time. In the case of a channel and rate selection scheme, thechannel environment in non-stationary, and hence the distributions ofrewards change over time. Non-stationary MAB problem algorithms areknown, but they offer poor performance in practice for a channel andrate selection problem. This is due to the fact that the number K=C×L ofpossible decisions at each step is typically large (i.e. a large numberof arms in the MAB problem). As a consequence, the upper confidencebound used for the algorithm updates, although asymptotically optimal,does not have time to decrease before the environment changes. In otherwords, the algorithm does not have sufficient time to learn thestatistical properties of all arms.

Reference is now made to FIG. 3, which illustrates a flowchart of aprocess for dynamically selecting a receiver, channel and transmissionrate in a communication system such as that shown in FIG. 1. First, FIG.3 is discussed in the context of a single link scenario, where only asingle transmitter-receiver pair is present. In other words, only thechannel and rate are selected by the transmitter, and the receiver towhich data is to be transmitted does not need to be selected. Scenariosinvolving multiple receivers are discussed later.

The process shown in FIG. 3 utilizes knowledge of the switching cost andcorrelations between rates (as described above) to ensure that thescheme has time to learn the properties of the channel environmentbefore it changes. For a channel i and rate l, the expected reward atframe t depends on whether switching of a channel is performed. Inaddition “side-information” about the rewards generated by selectingchannel i and rate l is known. It is known in advance that the rewardwhen selecting rate l is bounded by r_(l), and that the rewards obtainedby selecting the same channel i but different rates are correlated. If atransmission fails at rate r_(l), it would also fail at higher rate,and, reciprocally, if a transmission at rate r_(l) is successful, thenit would also be successful at lower rates.

In the first block of FIG. 3, weighting factors and variables areinitialized 300 for each combination of channel and rate. Therefore,K=C×L weighting factors are created and initialized, and similarly Ksets of variables are created and initialized. The initialized weightingfactors and variables are stored in a memory 302. The weighting factorsare changed over time, and the weighting factor for channel i and rate lat time t is denoted herein as w_(i,l)(t). The initial value istherefore w_(i,l)(0).

In an example, the weighting factor for channel i and rate/isinitialized to the value of the rate, i.e. w_(i,l)(0)=r_(l). The reasonfor this is as follows: compared to traditional MAB problems, additionalinformation is known in this scenario—a strict upper bound of the rewardobtained by selecting a given rate (as noted in the propertyhereinabove). This enables a reduction in the space of exploration. Forexample, if selecting channel i and rate r_(l) has proven to generate anaverage reward greater than r_(k) for k<1, then it is pointless toexplore rate r_(k) even if the latter has not been selected at all. Thisis because it is known that rate r_(k) cannot generate a reward as highas that achieved on rate r_(l). This contrasts with traditional MABwhere exploring all arms (here all tuples (channel, rate)) is performed.To utilize this side information, the weighting factors for rate r_(l)are initialized to r_(l), and these weighting factors are upper boundedby r_(l) (see below for weighting factor update explanation).Initializing the weighting factor to the rate ensures that higher ratesare explored first, and lower rates are only used when needed.

Several variables are also maintained for each combination of channeland rate. These are: the empirical discounted number of times channel iand rate l have been selected, denoted {circumflex over (n)}_(i,l)(t);the empirical discounted reward for each tuple (i, l), denoted{circumflex over (x)}_(i,l)(t); and the number of times before thebeginning of frame t that channel i was successively selected, denotedm_(i) (t). The equations for updating these variables are describedhereinafter. To initialize these variables, they can be set to zero.

Next, the initial selection 304 of receiver, channel and rate is made.In this example, only a single transmitter-receiver pair is beingconsidered, so no selection of receiver is performed. The selection ofchannel and transmission rate is based on a consideration of theweighting factors. For example, the transmitter can compare each of theweighting factors, and select the channel and rate combination that hasthe maximum value for the weighting factor. In other words, thechannel/rate combination (i_(t), l_(t)) for time t is given by:

$\left( {i_{t},l_{t}} \right) = {\arg \; {\max\limits_{({j,k})}{w_{j,k}(t)}}}$

In the case that several channel/rate combinations have the sameweighting factor (as is often the case for the initial selection 304),then a random, arbitrary selection can be made between thosechannel/rate combinations having the same weighting factor. In otherexamples, any other suitable method of breaking ties can be used.

The data is then transmitted 306 from the transmitter to the receiverusing the selected channel and transmission rate. The data can be in theform of data packets that are transmitted for the duration of the frameon this channel and at this rate.

The performance of the transmission of the data on the selected channeland transmission rate is monitored 308. For example, the reward x_(i)_(t) _(,l) _(t) (t) (the number of bits successfully transmitted—orsuccessfully received—on the selected channel and transmission rateduring the frame) can be monitored and recorded by the transmitter.

Next, an inferred performance for the other rates on the selectedchannel is generated 310 using the monitored performance. In otherwords, using the monitored reward for a given rate on a certain channel,an inferred reward is generated for each of the other available rates onthat channel. The inference of performance at other rates can beperformed using “soft sampling”, as now described.

Soft sampling is based on the knowledge that the rewards at differentrates achieved on the same channel are correlated. In order to exploitthese correlations, a model is used as follows. It is assumed that thesuccesses of a transmission at various rates on channel i at a giventime t are all correlated through a random variable U_(i), uniformlydistributed on [0,1]. This variable may, for example, characterize thelink SNR on channel i. The transmission is successful at rate l if andonly if U_(i)≦μ_(i,l)(t). Under this model, an observed successfultransmission or failure at rate r_(l) provides some information aboutthe probability the transmission at other rates would have beensuccessful.

The model is used to infer performance as follows. Following theobservation of the reward x_(i,l)(t) of the transmission on channel i atrate r_(l) in frame t, then:

-   -   If the transmission was successful, i.e. x_(i,l)(t)=r_(l), then        it is inferred that the reward x_(i,k)(t) when transmitting at        rate r_(k) would have been:

${x_{i,k}(t)} = \left\{ \begin{matrix}{r_{k},} & {{{with}\mspace{14mu} {probability}\mspace{14mu} {1\bigwedge\frac{\mu_{i,k}(t)}{\mu_{i,l}(t)}}},} \\{0,} & {{{with}\mspace{14mu} {probability}\mspace{14mu} 1} - \left( {1\bigwedge\frac{\mu_{i,k}(t)}{\mu_{i,l}(t)}} \right)}\end{matrix} \right.$

-   -   Where a        b means the minimum value of a and b.    -   If the transmission failed, i.e. x_(i,l)(t)=0, then it is        inferred that the reward x_(i,k)(t) when transmitting at rate        r_(k) would have been:

${x_{i,k}(t)} = \left\{ \begin{matrix}{0,} & {{{with}\mspace{14mu} {probability}\mspace{14mu} {1\bigwedge\frac{\left( {1 - {\mu_{i,k}(t)}} \right)}{\left( {1 - {\mu_{i,l}(t)}} \right)}}},} \\{r_{k},} & {{{with}\mspace{14mu} {probability}\mspace{14mu} 1} - \left( {1\bigwedge\frac{\left( {1 - {\mu_{i,k}(t)}} \right)}{\left( {1 - {\mu_{i,l}(t)}} \right)}} \right)}\end{matrix} \right.$

Therefore, these two probability distributions are based on the relativetransmission success rate between the inferred transmission rate r_(k)and the monitored transmission rate r_(l). These two probabilitydistributions can be used to randomly generate soft samples offictitious (inferred) transmissions at all the other rates for a givenchannel, i.e. generate rewards x_(i,k)(t) for all k≠l.

The quality of a random soft-sample depends on its variance. Forexample, if x_(i,l)(t)=r_(l) and μ_(i,k)(t)>μ_(i,l)(t) (i.e.r_(k)≦r_(l)), then with probability 1, the soft-sample corresponding toa fictitious transmission at rate r_(k) yields reward r_(k), and thesoft-sample is completely reliable. In other words, if the monitoredperformance of the data transmission indicates that the transmission wassuccessful, then it can be inferred that the transmission would also besuccessful at each of the other transmission rates that are less thanthe monitored transmission rate. Similarly, if the performance of thedata transmission indicates that the transmission was unsuccessful, thenit can be inferred that the transmission would also be unsuccessful ateach of the other transmission rates that are greater than the firsttransmission rate.

More generally, the quality β_(l,k) ^(i)(t) of a soft-sample on channeli at rate r_(k) in case of a transmission at rate r_(l) is defined by:

${\beta_{l,k}^{i}(t)} = \left\{ \begin{matrix}{{1\bigwedge\frac{\mu_{i,k}(t)}{\mu_{i,l}(t)}},} & {{{if}\mspace{14mu} {x_{i,l}(t)}} = r_{l}} \\{{1\bigwedge\frac{\left( {1 - {\mu_{i,k}(t)}} \right)}{\left( {1 - {\mu_{i,l}(t)}} \right)}},} & {{{if}\mspace{14mu} {x_{i,l}(t)}} = 0}\end{matrix} \right.$

By definition β_(l,l) ^(i)(t)=1. Note that the success probabilitiesμ_(i,k)(t) are not known exactly. However, these can be replaced byestimators, given by:

${\mu_{i,k}(t)} = \frac{{\hat{x}}_{i,k}(t)}{r_{l} \cdot {{\hat{n}}_{i,k}(t)}}$

Therefore, generating an inferred performance through the use ofsoft-sampling enables the use of a selection scheme as if all rates weresampled at each frame. Thus, with soft-sampling, the number of possibledecisions at each frame is reduced from K=C×L to C, i.e. just the numberof channels, which improves the performance of the algorithms.

Referring again to FIG. 3, once the inferred rewards (soft samples) forthe other rates have been randomly generated and the quality β_(l,k)^(i)(t) of the soft-samples has been calculated, then the weightingfactors and variables can be updated 312 for each channel/ratecombination in accordance with the monitored and inferred performance.

The variable {circumflex over (n)}_(i,l)(t) defining the empiricaldiscounted number of times channel i and rate l have been selected isupdated recursively as:

${{\hat{n}}_{i,l}\left( {t + 1} \right)} = {{\gamma \; {{\hat{n}}_{i,l}(t)}} + {\sum\limits_{k}\; {{\beta_{k,l}^{i}(t)}1_{{({i_{t},l_{t}})} = {({i,k})}}}}}$

Where γ is a discount factor between zero and one, which causes theinfluence of previous values to decay over time, such that greaterweight is given to more recent estimates. The term Σ_(k)β_(k,l)^(i)(t)1_((i) _(t) _(,l) _(t) _()=(i,k)) simply adds one to {circumflexover (n)}_(i,l)(t) in the case that channel i and rate l was monitored(i.e. not soft-sampled) because β_(l,l) ^(i)(t)=1. In the case thatchannel i and rate l was soft-sampled, then the value of the soft-samplequality is added to {circumflex over (n)}_(i,l)(t).

The variable {circumflex over (x)}_(i,l)(t) defining the empiricaldiscounted reward for each channel i and rate l combination (i, l) isupdated recursively as:

${{\hat{x}}_{i,l}\left( {t + 1} \right)} = {{\gamma {{\hat{x}}_{i,l}(t)}} + {{x_{i,l}(t)}{\sum\limits_{k}\; {{\beta_{k,l}^{\; i}(t)}1_{{({i_{t},l_{t}})} = {({i,k})}}}}}}$

Again, the discount factor γ ensures greater weight is given to morerecent estimates. The term x_(i,l)(t)Σ_(k)β_(k,l) ^(i)(t)1_((i) _(t)_(,l) _(t) _()=(i,k)) simply adds the monitored reward x_(i,l)(t) in thecase that channel i and rate l was monitored (i.e. not soft-sampled)because β_(l,l) ^(i)(t)=1. In the case that channel i and rate l wassoft-sampled, then the soft-sampled reward is multiplied by the value ofthe soft-sample quality and added to {circumflex over (x)}_(i,l)(t).

The variable m_(i)(t) defining the number of times before the beginningof frame t that channel i was successively selected is updated as:

m _(i)(t)=max {u: i _(t) = . . . =i _(t−u+1) =i}

Once the variables have been updated, then they can be stored in thememory 302. Note that it is sufficient to only store the most recentvalues of the three types of variables.

The weighting factors for each channel/rate combination can then beupdated for the following frame as follows:

${w_{j,k}\left( {t + 1} \right)} = {{r_{k}\bigwedge\left\lbrack {\frac{{\hat{x}}_{j,k}\left( {t + 1} \right)}{{\hat{n}}_{j,k}\left( {t + 1} \right)} + {r_{L}\sqrt{\frac{\xi \; {\log\left( {\sum\limits_{j^{\prime},k^{\prime}}^{t}\; {{\hat{n}}_{j^{\prime},k^{\prime}}\left( {t + 1} \right)}} \right)}}{r_{k}{{\hat{n}}_{j,k}\left( {t + 1} \right)}}}}} \right\rbrack} + \frac{a\; 1_{j = i_{t}}}{m_{j}\left( {t + 1} \right)}}$

The weighting factor is based on several sub-factors, each of which isnow considered in turn. The term {circumflex over(x)}_(j,k)(t+1)/{circumflex over (n)}_(j,k)(t+1) represents a qualityfactor for the channel j and rate r_(k), which is given by the averageestimated goodput (or throughput) value. Note that this is weightedaverage due to the discount factor γ which applies greater weight tomore recent values.

The term √{square root over (ξ log(Σ_(j′,k′) ^(t){circumflex over(n)}_(j′,k′)(t+1))/r_(k){circumflex over (n)}_(j,k)(t+1))} represents achannel exploration factor. The symbols j′ and k′ represent the channelsand rates other than j and k. ξ is a positive constant. The channelexploration factor is arranged to decrease when the channel j associatedwith the respective weighting factor is used for data transmission andincrease when the channel j is not used for data transmission (recallthat {circumflex over (n)}_(j,k) (t) decreases over time due to thediscount factor γ). Therefore, a previously unused channel has a higherweighting factor and is more likely to be selected. The explorationfactor forces the selection scheme to periodically probe other channels.It is the choice of the exploration term, and the associated parameters,that strikes the balance between exploration and exploitation.

Note that the quality factor and the exploration factor are summed, butupper bounded by r_(k) due to the

operator. This ensures that higher rates are explored first, asmentioned above.

The final term, a1 _(j=i) _(t) /m_(j)(t+1) is a channel switching costfactor, which considers the temporal cost associated with changingchannels. a is a positive constant. The channel switching cost factormodifies the weights of channel j and rate r_(k) by adding a positiveterm in the weight if the channel j corresponds to (i.e. matches) thechannel just previously selected and used for transmission. The channelswitching cost factor is arranged to tend towards zero as the number oftimes a channel is successively selected increases, such that when achannel has been successively selected over period of time, the affectof the switching cost factor on the weighting factor decreases. Thechannel switching cost factor can be arranged such that after apredefined period of time, the affect on the weighting factor is nolonger significant.

Returning again to FIG. 3, once the weighting factors have been updated312, then the channel and rate for the next frame can be selected 314 independence on the updated weighting factors. As above, the transmittercan compare each of the weighting factors, and select the channel andrate combination that has the maximum value for the weighting factor. Inother words, the channel/rate combination (i_(t), l_(t)) for time t isgiven by

$\arg \; {\max\limits_{({j,k})}{{w_{j,k}(t)}.}}$

The newly selected channel and rate can then be used for transmission,and the process of FIG. 3 repeats. In summary, the above-describedchannel and rate selection scheme takes into account several factorswhen selecting the channel and rate: it modifies the weight of thechannel just previously selected to avoid the algorithm switchingchannels too often; it upper-bounds the rewards achieved on rate l byr_(l) to explore higher rates first; it balances exploration vs.exploitation; and it uses soft sampling to reduce the dimension of theset of possible decisions.

The above-described selection scheme can also be extended to a networkscenario (such as that shown in FIG. 1) where an access point is servingN backlogged receivers indexed by u=1, . . . , N. As in traditionalwireless cellular systems, an efficiency vs. fairness trade-off isfaced: it is likely that there is a receiver (close to the AP) that canbe served at the highest rate. If the AP always serves this receiver, itachieves the maximum system throughput (efficiency), however at theexpense of degrading fairness (the other receivers are not served atall).

To balance fairness and efficiency, the notion of “utility” is employed.Let U be an increasing and concave function. The objective is now todesign a learning and scheduling algorithm that maximizes the socialwelfare: Σ_(u)U(φ_(u)), where φ_(u) denotes the long-term service rate(throughput) for receiver u. In some examples, U=log. In an example, thesocial welfare can be maximized in the long run by using a gradientalgorithm in which at time t the discounted throughput for receiver u isdefined as:

${\varphi_{u}(t)} = {\frac{1 - \gamma^{\prime}}{1 - \gamma^{{\prime \; t} + 1}}{\sum\limits_{s = 0}^{t}\; {\gamma^{{\prime \; t} - s}{\sum\limits_{i,l}\; {{x_{u,i,l}(s)}1_{{({u_{s},i_{s},l_{s}})} = {({u,i,l})}}}}}}}$

Where γ′ is a fairness factor between zero and one (which can bedifferent to the above discount factor γ) and x_(u,i,l) is the rewardfor receiver u on channel i and rate l. γ′ controls the fairness vs.efficiency trade-off: for γ′ close to 0, the algorithm greedily picksthe receiver that can be served at the optimum rate without accountingfor fairness. This is because a low γ′ results in a discountedthroughput that weights recent reward values heavily, and primarilyconsiders this when selecting a receiver. Conversely, when γ′ is closeto 1, the algorithm becomes very fair. This is because φ_(u)(t) tends tothe historical average throughput for the receiver as γ′ tends to 1, andthe algorithm therefore considers long term fairness.

Note that φ_(u)(t) can also be updated in a recursive manner. A gradientalgorithm selects at time t the receiver, channel and rate thatmaximizes the product of the achieved instantaneous rate andU′(φ_(u)(t)), as outlined in more detail below.

A selection scheme that includes the fairness component of the gradientalgorithm above is now described, again with reference to FIG. 3. Thealgorithm is similar to that described above, except that at each frame,the algorithm has to select a receiver, a channel and a rate.Furthermore, note that due to the broadcast nature of the system, eachdata packet that is transmitted is heard by all receivers. This propertyis utilized to assist in the learning process.

Firstly, the variables and weighting factors are initialized 300 andstored. The algorithm maintains similar variables to those discussedabove, but extended to the multi-receiver scenario. Variable {circumflexover (x)}_(u,i,l)(t) is the empirical reward for receiver u when servedon channel i at rate l, and is maintained in a similar manner to thatdescribed above, except separately for each receiver u. Variable{circumflex over (n)}_(u,i,l)(t) is the empirical discounted number oftimes receiver u, channel i and rate l has been selected. Variablem_(i)(t) remains the same as described above. The weighting factor foreach combination of receiver u, channel i and rate l is denotedw_(u,i,l)(t).

As above, the weighting factors are initialized to the correspondingrate, i.e. w_(u,i,l)(0)=r_(l). Similarly, {circumflex over(n)}_(u,i,l)(0)=0, {circumflex over (x)}_(u,i,l)(0)=0 and φ_(u)(0)=0 forall receivers at initialization. The initial selection 304 of thecombination of receiver, channel and rate is made based on aconsideration of the weighting factors. For example, the transmitter cancompare each of the weighting factors, and select the channel and ratecombination that has the maximum value for the weighting factor. Inother words, the receiver/channel/rate combination (u_(t), i_(t), l_(t))for time t is given by:

$\left( {u_{t},i_{t},l_{t}} \right) = {\arg \; {\max\limits_{({u,j,k})}{{w\;}_{u,j,k}(t)}}}$

In the case that several receiver/channel/rate combinations have thesame weighting factor (as is often the case for the initial selection304), then a random, arbitrary selection can be made between thosechannel/rate combinations having the same weighting factor.

The data is then transmitted 306 from the transmitter to the selectedreceiver using the channel and transmission rate, which can be in theform of data packets that are transmitted to the receiver for theduration of the frame on this channel and at this rate. The performanceof the transmission of the data to the selected receiver on the selectedchannel and transmission rate is monitored 308. However, when a packetis sent to receiver u_(t), it is overheard by all other receivers, dueto the broadcast nature of the system. Receiver u_(t) can directlyobserve the reward obtained x_(u) _(t) _(,i) _(t) _(,l) _(t) (t). Inaddition, since all receivers listen to the transmission, they can alsoobserve the reward x_(u,u) _(t) _(,l) _(t) (t) i.e. the reward as if thepacket had been intended for that receiver.

Optionally, the performance at the other rates for channel used fortransmission can be inferred, as described above, in order to reduce thesize of the decision space. In other words, the soft-samples andqualities can be calculated as above.

The weighting factors and variables can then be updated 312 for eachreceiver/channel/rate combination. The variables {circumflex over(n)}_(u,i,l)(t), {circumflex over (x)}_(u,i,l)(t), and m_(i)(t) areupdated for all receivers in the same manner as that described above forthe single-link example. In addition, φ_(u)(t) is updated using theequation above for all receivers using the observed rewards (includingthe rewards found from overheard data packets).

The weighting factors are updated as follows:

${w_{u,j,k}\left( {t + 1} \right)} = {{U^{\prime}\left( {\varphi_{u}\left( {t + 1} \right)} \right)}\left\lbrack {{r_{k}\bigwedge\begin{bmatrix}{\frac{{\hat{x}}_{u,j,k}\left( {t + 1} \right)}{{\hat{n}}_{u,j,k}\left( {t + 1} \right)} +} \\{r_{L}\sqrt{\frac{\xi \; {\log \left( {\sum\limits_{u^{\prime},j^{\prime},k^{\prime ~}}^{t}\; {{\hat{n}}_{u^{\prime},j^{\prime},k^{\prime}}\left( {t + 1} \right)}} \right)}}{r_{k}{{\hat{n}}_{u,j,k}\left( {t + 1} \right)}}}}\end{bmatrix}} + \frac{a\; 1_{j = i_{t}}}{m_{j}\left( {t + 1} \right)}} \right\rbrack}$

In this equation, the first term U′(φ_(u)(t+1)) represents the utilityas described above, and the remainder of the equation (which is similarto that described hereinbefore for the single-link case) represents theachieved instantaneous rate for the purposes of the gradient algorithm.

Once the weighting factors have been updated 312, then the receiver,channel and rate for the next frame can be selected 314 using theupdated weighting factors. As above, the transmitter can compare each ofthe weighting factors, and select the channel and rate combination thathas the maximum value for the weighting factor. In other words, thereceiver/channel/rate combination (u_(t), i_(t), l_(t)) for time t isgiven by

$\arg \; {\max\limits_{({u,j,k})}{{w_{u,j,k}(t)}.}}$

The newly selected channel and rate can then be used for transmission,and the process of FIG. 3 repeated.

The above-described scheme therefore enables a selection to be madebetween receivers, channels and rates, which balances fairness for thereceivers, whilst also taking into account switching cost, exploration,and can utilize inferred soft-samples.

Next is considered the implementation of the above-described schemes ina real-time distributed platform. The schemes can be implemented at theMAC layer, and are fast enough to make decisions at packet level and donot need extra signaling packets and have minimum additional headeroverhead. The schemes can be arranged to aggressively maintainsynchronization among nodes skipping channels, as any loss ofsynchronization between nodes can incur a costly discovery procedurethat can deteriorate the performance.

In a system such as that shown in FIG. 1, the AP learns about channelquality from feedback from the receivers. Each unicast packet expects anacknowledgment and if it is missing, it is counted as packet loss. Hencethe AP has a very reliable estimate of the channel quality (the reward{circumflex over (x)}_(i,l)(t)).

The AP communicates the corresponding learned values to each receiver.In the header of each packet it appends ({circumflex over (x)}_(i,l)(t),{circumflex over (n)}_(i,l)(t)) for one channel i and one rate l. Ituses the LRU (last-recently updated) policy to send the updates: itappends to the packet the information about the (channel, rate) pairthat has not been communicated for the longest time. The channelcoherence time is generally of order of thousands of packets, so allreceivers can obtain timely and accurate learning information.

In addition, all receivers listen promiscuously and learn channelinformation from overheard packets. Hence the receivers can learn aboutthe channel whenever the AP sends a packet, regardless of thedestination receivers of the packet. This is useful when the number ofreceivers gets large. In contrast, the AP only learns about the channelquality to a certain receiver when it sends a packet to that receiver.Each receiver stores a record (o_(i,l), {circumflex over (x)}_(i,l),{circumflex over (n)}_(i,l)) for each channel i and rate l, whereo_(i,l) the number of overheard packets and {circumflex over (x)}_(i,l)and {circumflex over (n)}_(i,l) are the discounted weights and number ofsamples, respectively. For each overheard packet at channel i, rate r,the receiver increases o_(i,l) updates {circumflex over (x)}_(i,l) and{circumflex over (n)}_(i,l) as described above.

Note that it is much more likely that the packet payload gets corrupted,rather than the packet header. Hence, for most of the packets,successful or not, the receiver can extract the header informationcorrectly and update the corresponding record. If this is not possible,the packet can be simply ignored. Whenever the receiver sends anacknowledgment for a correctly received packet, it appends one of therecords (o_(i,l) ^(R), {circumflex over (x)}_(i,l) ^(R), {circumflexover (n)}_(i,l) ^(R)) using the LRU policy, and erases the record bysetting all variables to zero. When the AP receives this update, itupdates its own records using a cumulative discount:

{circumflex over (n)} _(i,l)(t+1)=γ^(o) ^(i,l) ^(R) {circumflex over(n)} _(i,l)(t)+{circumflex over (n)} _(i,l) ^(R) and {circumflex over(x)} _(i,l)(t+1)=γ^(o) ^(i,l) ^(R) {circumflex over (x)}_(i,l)(t)+{circumflex over (x)} _(i,l) ^(R)

Note that this has the same effect as if the AP had received all thepacket information itself, and performed the updates. The scheme canthen operate in the same manner as described above.

In order to handle synchronization issues, the selection scheme can bearranged to operate in “epochs” as outlined with reference to FIG. 4. Anepoch e 400 is a predetermined time period during which all the networknodes are synchronized to a single channel. The AP sets the epochchannel i_(e) and the epoch duration T_(e) 402, and the receiversfollow. In one example, at the beginning of epoch e 400 the transmitterdecides the channel i_(e+1) and epoch duration T_(e+1) which is used inthe following epoch e+1. It selects the channel using scheme describedabove. During the epoch e, tuple (i_(e+1); T_(e+1)) is encoded in thepacket header of the packets transmitted 404 in the network to notifythe receivers. Thus the AP makes the decision ahead of time, to ensureit is successfully communicated to the receivers before the change takesplace after expiry of the epoch, as illustrated FIG. 4, which shows(i_(e+1); T_(e+1)) being transmitted 404 before the change in epoch e+1406, which has duration T_(e+1) 408 as communicated in advance.

In some examples, the epoch duration is 10 packet transmissions. Since(i_(e+1); T_(e+1)) is common for all receivers in the network, it isenough for a receiver to overhear at least one of these packets (evennot destined to itself), to keep synchronization. It can still happenthat a receiver misses all the packets and loses synchronization. Inthis case re-synchronization is used. When re-synchronizing, a receivermoves to the channel i* with the highest weight, i*=arg max_(i) max_(l)w_(i,l)(t). When the AP has a packet to send to the receiver, it islikely to send it on the channel with the highest weight. Furthermore,the weight estimates are the same at the AP and the receiver, as theyare regularly updated. In one example, resynchronization lasts twoepochs.

If re-synchronization fails as well, the receiver can resort to atimeout. During a timeout, a receiver starts searching over allchannels. In one example, it remains on a single frequency for twopacket durations. If no packet is detected, it skips to the nextfrequency. The timeout procedure is more expensive, but most efficientwhen no other hints are available.

Note that no signaling packets are used to maintain synchronization.Signaling packets are only used if the AP has no traffic to send, inwhich case it can periodically broadcasts keep-alive packets to maintainsynchronization.

In a practical system, the synchronization information is appended tothe packet header, and hence encoded with the lowest rate and morelikely to be received than the rest of the packet. As mentioned above,when the MAC scheme pre-selects the channel i_(e) for the whole durationof the epoch e the scheduling rules described hereinbefore can bemodified to account for this change. Before every transmission, thedestination receiver u* is selected with the highest weighting factorgiven the channel i_(e). In other words, u*=arg max_(u) max_(l) ŵ_(u,i)_(e) _(,l)(t), where the weighting factors are defined as above.

In examples, only the destinations that have packets to send (withnon-empty queues) are considered. If the AP queues are fully loaded,during a single epoch e only the receiver whose channel quality is goodduring that time is served, hence maximizing the efficiency. If not,then occasionally a receiver on a suboptimal channel is served. However,serving sub-optimally when not all queues are full is a transient eventand hence relatively insignificant.

FIG. 5 illustrates various components of an exemplary communicationdevice 102 (such as an access point) which can be implemented as anyform of a computing and/or electronic device, and in which embodimentsof the selection techniques outlined above can be implemented.

Communication device 102 comprises one or more processors 500 which maybe microprocessors, controllers or any other suitable type of processorsfor processing computing executable instructions to control theoperation of the device in order to implement the selection techniquesand control other functional elements of the communication device 102.

The communication device 102 also comprises a transmitter 502 arrangedto transmit data to one or more receivers over a communication network.The transmitter 502 can be arranged to transmit data either via awireless (radio) signal or via a wired network. The transmitter 502 cantransmit data at a plurality of transmission rates (e.g. using differentmodulation and/or coding schemes) on a plurality of channels (e.g.different frequency channels). The communication device 102 alsocomprises a receiver 504 arranged to receive data from other nodes inthe communication network. The transmitter 502 and receiver 504 arecontrolled by the processors 500.

The communication device 102 also optionally comprises a communicationinterface 506, which can be arranged to communicate with one or moreadditional networks. For example, the communication interface 506 canconnect the communication device 102 to a wired network (such as theinternet), and the transmitter 502 and receiver 504 provide a wirelesslocal area network enabling local nodes to communicate with the wirednetwork via the communication device 102.

Computer-executable instructions and data storage can be provided usingany computer-readable media that is accessible by communication device102. Computer-readable media may include, for example, computer storagemedia such as memory 302 and communications media. Computer storagemedia, such as memory 302, includes volatile and non-volatile, removableand non-removable media implemented in any method or technology forstorage of information such as computer readable instructions, datastructures, program modules or other data. Computer storage mediaincludes, but is not limited to, RAM, ROM, EPROM, EEPROM, flash memoryor other memory technology, CD-ROM, digital versatile disks (DVD) orother optical storage, magnetic cassettes, magnetic tape, magnetic diskstorage or other magnetic storage devices, or any other medium that canbe used to store information for access by a computing device. Incontrast, communication media may embody computer readable instructions,data structures, program modules, or other data in a modulated datasignal, such as a carrier wave, or other transport mechanism. Althoughthe computer storage media (memory 302) is shown within thecommunication device 102 it will be appreciated that the storage may bedistributed or located remotely and accessed via a network or othercommunication link (e.g. using communication interface 506).

Platform software comprising an operating system 508 or any othersuitable platform software may be provided at the memory 302 of thecommunication device 102 to enable application software 510 to beexecuted on the device. The memory 302 can store the weighting factor512 for each combination of receiver, channel and rate as describedabove. In addition, the memory 302 can store the variables 514 for eachcombination of receiver, channel and rate as described above. The memory302 can also provide a data store 516, which can be used to providestorage for any other data. Other software that can be provided on thememory 302 includes: an inference engine 518 arranged to inferperformance at other rates (as outlined in detail above); weightingfactor and variable calculation logic 520 arranged to maintain andupdate the values of the variables 514 and weighting factors 512 asdescribed in detail above; and selection logic 522 arranged to performthe selection of receiver, channel and rate as described hereinbefore.

The communication device 102 can optionally also comprise aninput/output controller 524 arranged to output display information to adisplay device which may be separate from or integral to thecommunication device 102. The display information may provide agraphical user interface. The input/output controller 524 can also bearranged to receive and process input from one or more devices, such asa user input device (e.g. a mouse or a keyboard). In an example thedisplay device may also act as the user input device if it is a touchsensitive display device. The input/output controller 524 may alsooutput data to devices other than the display device, e.g. a locallyconnected printing or storage device.

The term ‘computer’ is used herein to refer to any device withprocessing capability such that it can execute instructions. Thoseskilled in the art will realize that such processing capabilities areincorporated into many different devices and therefore the term‘computer’ includes PCs, servers, mobile telephones, personal digitalassistants and many other devices.

The methods described herein may be performed by software in machinereadable form on a tangible storage medium. Examples of tangible (ornon-transitory) storage media include disks, thumb drives, memory etcand do not include propagated signals. The software can be suitable forexecution on a parallel processor or a serial processor such that themethod steps may be carried out in any suitable order, orsimultaneously.

This acknowledges that software can be a valuable, separately tradablecommodity. It is intended to encompass software, which runs on orcontrols “dumb” or standard hardware, to carry out the desiredfunctions. It is also intended to encompass software which “describes”or defines the configuration of hardware, such as HDL (hardwaredescription language) software, as is used for designing silicon chips,or for configuring universal programmable chips, to carry out desiredfunctions.

Those skilled in the art will realize that storage devices utilized tostore program instructions can be distributed across a network. Forexample, a remote computer may store an example of the process describedas software. A local or terminal computer may access the remote computerand download a part or all of the software to run the program.Alternatively, the local computer may download pieces of the software asneeded, or execute some software instructions at the local terminal andsome at the remote computer (or computer network). Those skilled in theart will also realize that by utilizing conventional techniques known tothose skilled in the art that all, or a portion of the softwareinstructions may be carried out by a dedicated circuit, such as a DSP,programmable logic array, or the like.

Any range or device value given herein may be extended or alteredwithout losing the effect sought, as will be apparent to the skilledperson.

It will be understood that the benefits and advantages described abovemay relate to one embodiment or may relate to several embodiments. Theembodiments are not limited to those that solve any or all of the statedproblems or those that have any or all of the stated benefits andadvantages. It will further be understood that reference to ‘an’ itemrefers to one or more of those items.

The steps of the methods described herein may be carried out in anysuitable order, or simultaneously where appropriate. Additionally,individual blocks may be deleted from any of the methods withoutdeparting from the spirit and scope of the subject matter describedherein. Aspects of any of the examples described above may be combinedwith aspects of any of the other examples described to form furtherexamples without losing the effect sought.

The term ‘comprising’ is used herein to mean including the method blocksor elements identified, but that such blocks or elements do not comprisean exclusive list and a method or apparatus may contain additionalblocks or elements.

It will be understood that the above description of a preferredembodiment is given by way of example only and that variousmodifications may be made by those skilled in the art. The abovespecification, examples and data provide a complete description of thestructure and use of exemplary embodiments of the invention. Althoughvarious embodiments of the invention have been described above with acertain degree of particularity, or with reference to one or moreindividual embodiments, those skilled in the art could make numerousalterations to the disclosed embodiments without departing from thespirit or scope of this invention.

1. A method of selecting a communication resource for transmitting datafrom a transmitter to a receiver from a set of communication resourcescomprising a plurality of channels, each channel having an associatedplurality of transmission rates, the method comprising: storing aweighting factor for each combination of channel and transmission ratein the set of communication resources; monitoring performance of a firstdata transmission on a selected channel at a first transmission rate;generating an inferred performance for other transmission rates on theselected channel from the performance of the first transmission rate;updating each weighting factor in accordance with the performance on theselected channel at the first transmission rate and the inferredperformance for the other transmission rates on the selected channel;and selecting a channel and transmission rate combination for subsequentdata transmission in dependence on the weighting factors.
 2. A methodaccording to claim 1, wherein each weighting factor comprises a channelexploration factor arranged to decrease when the channel associated withthe respective weighting factor is used for data transmission andincrease when the channel is not used for data transmission, such that apreviously unused channel is more likely to be selected.
 3. A methodaccording to claim 1, wherein each weighting factor comprises a qualityfactor for the channel and transmission rate associated with therespective weighting factor.
 4. A method according to claim 3, whereinthe quality factor is based on a weighted average of throughput orgoodput values, wherein the weighted average applies a higher weightingto more recent throughput or goodput values.
 5. A method according toclaim 1, wherein each weighting factor comprises a channel switchingcost factor arranged to increase the weighting factor when the channelassociated with the respective weighting factor matches the selectedchannel used for the first data transmission.
 6. A method according toclaim 5, wherein the channel switching cost factor is arranged to tendtowards zero as the number of times a channel is successively selectedincreases, such that when a channel has been successively selected for apredefined period of time, the switching cost factor does not affect theweighting factor.
 7. A method according to claim 1, wherein the step ofmonitoring performance of a first data transmission on a selectedchannel at a first transmission rate comprises recording the number ofbits of the first data transmission successfully received at thereceiver.
 8. A method according to claim 1, wherein if the performanceof the first data transmission indicates that the transmission wassuccessful, then the step of generating an inferred performancecomprises inferring that the transmission would also be successful ateach of the other transmission rates that are less than the firsttransmission rate, and wherein if the performance of the first datatransmission indicates that the transmission was unsuccessful, then thestep of generating an inferred performance comprises inferring that thetransmission would also be unsuccessful at each of the othertransmission rates that are greater than the first transmission rate. 9.A method according to claim 1, wherein the step of generating aninferred performance for other transmission rates on the selectedchannel from the performance of the first transmission rate comprises:randomly generating an inferred performance for each of the othertransmission rates using a first probability distribution if the firstdata transmission indicates that the transmission was successful; andrandomly generating an inferred performance for each of the othertransmission rates using a second probability distribution if the firstdata transmission indicates that the transmission was unsuccessful,wherein the first and second probability distributions are based on arelative transmission success rate between a respective one of the othertransmission rates and the first transmission rate.
 10. A methodaccording to claim 9, wherein the step of generating an inferredperformance for other transmission rates on the selected channel fromthe performance of the first transmission rate further comprises:generating a quality value for each inferred performance based on therelative transmission success rate between the respective one of theother transmission rates and the first transmission rate.
 11. A methodaccording to claim 1, wherein the step of selecting a channel andtransmission rate combination for subsequent data transmission comprisesselecting the channel and transmission rate combination having thehighest weighting factor.
 12. A communication device, comprising: atransmitter arranged to transmit data to at least one of a plurality ofreceivers using a selected one of a plurality channels, each channelhaving an associated plurality of transmission rates; a processorarranged to control the transmitter; and a memory arranged to store aweighting factor associated with each combination of receiver, channeland transmission rate, wherein the processor is further arranged to:control the transmitter to transmit a first data packet to one of thereceivers using one of the channels and one of the transmission rates;monitor the first data packet performance; update each of the weightingfactors in the memory in accordance with the first data packetperformance; and select one of the receivers, one of the channels andone of the transmission rates for transmission of a subsequent datapacket in dependence on the weighting factors.
 13. A communicationdevice according to claim 12, wherein each weighting factor comprises autilization factor based on previous throughput values achieved for therespective receiver.
 14. A communication device according to claim 13,wherein the utilization factor is a function of a weighted average ofprevious throughput values achieved for the respective receiver, whereinthe weighted average applies a higher weighting to more recentthroughput values.
 15. A communication device according to claim 12,wherein each weighting factor comprises at least one of: a channelexploration factor arranged to decrease when the channel associated withthe respective weighting factor is used for data transmission andincrease when the channel is not used for data transmission, such that apreviously unused channel is more likely to be selected; an estimatedthroughput for the channel and transmission rate associated with therespective weighting factor; and a channel switching cost factorarranged to increase the weighting factor when the channel associatedwith the respective weighting factor matches the channel used totransmit the first data packet.
 16. A communication device according toclaim 12, wherein the processor is arranged to monitor the first datapacket performance by recording the number of bits of the first datapacket received successfully at each of the plurality of receivers. 17.A communication device according to claim 12, wherein the processor isarranged to select one of the receivers, one of the channels and one ofthe transmission rates for transmission of a subsequent data packetafter expiry of a predetermined time period since transmission of thefirst data packet.
 18. A communication device according to claim 17,wherein the processor is further arranged to notify the plurality ofreceivers of the selected one of the receivers, one of the channels andone of the transmission rates for transmission of a subsequent datapacket using data packets transmitted prior to the expiry of thepredetermined time period.
 19. A communication device according to claim12, wherein the weighting factor is calculated using a gradientalgorithm arranged to maximize a long-term service rate for theplurality of receivers.
 20. A method of scheduling a data transmissionto a selected receiver over a wireless network comprising a plurality ofreceivers, each arranged to receive data using one of a plurality offrequency channels, and each frequency channel having an associatedplurality of transmission rates, the method comprising: storing, in amemory, weighting factors for each combination of receiver, frequencychannel and transmission rate; transmitting a first data packet to oneof the receivers over the wireless network using a selected frequencychannel and a first transmission rate; determining a first data packetperformance value using the number of bits successfully transmitted inthe first data packet at the first transmission rate; generating, usinga processor, an inferred performance value for other transmission rateson the selected frequency channel from the first data packet performancevalue at the first transmission rate; updating each of the weightingfactors in the memory in accordance with the performance value on theselected frequency channel at the first transmission rate and theinferred performed value for the other transmission rates on theselected frequency channel; and selecting one of the receivers, one ofthe frequency channels and one of the transmission rates fortransmission of a subsequent data packet in dependence on the weightingfactors.